You are listening to the Expresso Sports Update. Here is the latest news from the world of Indian and International Cricket brought to you by The Indian Express.
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Let us begin today’s bulletin with news on Shubman Gill. He was stranded on 98, not out, by rain Wednesday as India beat the West Indies by 119 runs in the shortened third one-day international to sweep the three-match series.

Gill’s innings of 98 balls lifted India to 225-3 before its innings ended amid showers after 36 overs at the Queens Park Oval. The West Indies was left to chase 257 in 35 overs at 7.3 runs per over under the Duckworth-Lewis system and fell well short, dismissed for 137 in the 26th over.

India already held a 2-0 lead in the series after winning the first match by three runs and the second by two wickets.

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“Speaking of Shubam Gill, the player had played all of three ODIs spread across two years, the last of them coming in 2020. He’s since gone on to establish himself as one of India’s most promising Test batsmen; he also enjoyed his most productive Indian Premier League season yet earlier this year, for Gujarat Titans.
In the first ODI Gill displayed his potential in this format. In largely benign conditions at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad, he tore into an inaccurate West Indies bowling attack in the powerplay. Gill had told this paper that he had made a conscious effort to cut down on the trigger shuffle in his stance when the ball wasn’t doing much.”
“Meanwhile, Jonny Bairstow continued his form this summer by amassing a 53-ball 90 and helped England win by 41-run over South Africa on Wednesday in the first Twenty20 international of the three-match series. Bairstow smashed eight sixes and three fours and helped England to put 234-6 after being asked to bat at Bristol. Moeen Ali also starred with the bat by scoring quickfire 52 off 18 balls, including six sixes, an England record for the fastest 50 in a Twenty20 cricket international.

Moeen said, “It means a lot, there are guys in our changing room who score quickly and now I can brag about the fastest 50 in T20 cricket for England” ”
“Moving on, the Twenty20 format Asia Cup has been moved to the United Arab Emirates because of the economic and political crisis in Sri Lanka.

The Asian Cricket Council said Wednesday it unanimously decided to relocate the tournament scheduled from August 27 to September 11.

Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Bangladesh will be joined by one more team — UAE, Kuwait, Singapore, or Hong Kong. The Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka series is being played against the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence. There is a severe shortage of fuel, medicine, and cooking gas and experts have warned of a pending food crisis.
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“Meanwhile, Paddy Upton’s vast reservoir of knowledge will be an immensely useful “resource” at a time when the mental health of cricketers is becoming paramount in a choc-a-bloc international cricket calendar, feels India head coach Rahul Dravid.

Upton, who had four fruitful years from 2008 to 2011 under Gary Kirsten is back at Dravid’s insistence and will now help the elite Indian players cope with pressure going into T20 World Cup in Australia.

Dravid told BCCI TV, “With so much cricket being played mental health side of cricket is very important, and having a resource like Upton will really be helpful to the group,” ”
“In other news, wicketkeeping legend Adam Gilchrist has questioned the growing dominance of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises in world cricket and said the current trend of “monopolization” by them is dangerous. Gilchrist’s comments have come in the backdrop of reports stating that Australian batter David Warner might opt out of the upcoming Big Bash League (BBL) this season and sign up for a more lucrative United Arab Emirates T20 league.
Interestingly, three IPL franchises — Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Delhi Capitals — have all invested in teams in the UAE T20 league. ”
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Now moving on to Majid Haq who scorned the failure of Scotland players to speak out following the publication of a report on racism in Cricket Scotland, said it showed that the team taking a knee before games to protest racism was little more than tokenism.

The report, published on Monday, found the governance and leadership practices of Cricket Scotland to be “institutionally racist”. The review was commissioned after Haq and former teammate Qasim Sheikh spoke out about the abuse they had suffered, saying they were treated differently due to the color of their skin.
Their lawyer Aamer Anwar questioned the point of Scotland’s players taking a knee before games to protest racism at the Twenty20 World Cup last year.
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“Lastly, after much speculation, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) recently appointed former India cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla as the Bengal coach for the upcoming season.
Shukla will replace Arun Lal, who stepped down at the end of this season.
Lal was successful as Bengal coach, taking the team to the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy final and guiding the side to the semifinal this term. However, after Bengal lost to Madhya Pradesh in the last-four stage, Lal, 66, stepped down, citing “fatigue”.
CAB President Avishek Dalmiya said, “I am extremely happy to announce our very own Laxmi Ratan Shukla as the new senior Bengal team coach. He can connect with the players very smoothly.””

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